Virginia Grohl’s Biggest Fear of Nirvana Fame Was That Madonna Would Snatch Up Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl's mom, Virginia Grohl, has issued her new book, which examines what it's like to raise a famous musician. In From Cradle to Stage, Grohl shares her insights while also picking the minds of the mothers of such other famous musicians as Pharrell Williams, Amy Winehouse and Dr. Dre about their experiences. Speaking about her time seeing her son's ascent to fame, Virginia Grohl says it was an interesting time and one in which she actually wasn't too worried about her son.

In an interview with The Guardian, Virginia Grohl says she wasn't really worried about the marijuana usage and knew that her son understood enough about his hyperactive tendencies not to dabble with cocaine or heroin. But her biggest concern was with the women. "I did worry about the women. I don't know how to tell you this, it's so embarrassing, but my biggest fear was that Madonna would snatch him up," explained Virginia Grohl.

During the height of Nirvana mania, Grohl says she began to see a reaction in her everyday life. “When I was teaching, I had a senior class and had just come back from time on the road with Nirvana," recalls Grohl. "I said to the class, ‘I’ve been teaching for 30 years and had all kinds of successes, but I’ve never had a roar.’ Then one day I was called out of the room. When I came back, the class gave me a roar."

As for when Kurt Cobain passed, Virginia recalls, "Somebody came in to tell me, and of course the kids were reacting. It was shocking but I wasn’t surprised. Things were so bad and there had been a couple of other times."

She continues, "I was worried about David … losing a friend in such a horrible way, and losing a career. [But I never thought Dave] would be destroyed by it. He’s such a positive person, and he has good stuff pouring out of him."

As time has told, Grohl did emerge from the sudden ending of Nirvana, testing out his own solo music that eventually turned into the beginnings of Foo Fighters.

Learn more about Virginia Grohl's time raising Dave Grohl as well as the entries from other rock star mothers in From Cradle to Stage: Stories From the Mothers Who Rockedand Raised Rock Stars, currently available to order via Amazon.